Community Bonds Over Watching the World Cup

Upper+School+Head+Joshua+Neudel+photographed+a+bracket+made+by+the+Spanish+Department+before+the+Knockout+stage.+Photo+courtesy+of+Neudel.

Upper School Head Joshua Neudel photographed a bracket made by the Spanish Department before the Knockout stage. Photo courtesy of Neudel.

Recently, the FIFA Men’s World Cup has been all the talk at the School.

For many students here, the international soccer championship is an exciting time. With the matches occurring during the school day, however, students are getting creative to stay informed.

Sevak Glorikian ’23 watches during his free periods.

“My friends and I will set up one computer with the game, and we will all watch while we work,” Glorikian said. “Sometimes I like to do a split screen with the game and my homework on my own laptop.”

Ava McDonald ’23 said she can be found keeping up to date on her phone.

“I like to watch whenever I can on my phone,” McDonald said. “I can bring it anywhere, and it’s convenient.”

With these unique ways of staying up-to-date with scores and brackets, the World Cup has united the School population around a common interest.

“It’s fun to keep up to date on the scores and choose favorites. I like to debate with students about the different teams we support,” Upper School Science Teacher Jared Smith said.

“It’s always exciting when someone scores in a big game because we hear everyone in the school cheer,” Glorikian said. “It’s cool when you watch it, and you’re getting really into it, and then you turn around, and you see others watching too.”

Entire class periods have even come together around the World Cup, according to Assistant Director of Academic Affairs Joe Iuliano.

“My International Relations class is really into it,” Iuliano said. “They wanted to watch together during class, and all came up with somewhat of a good argument for doing so because it is a world event.”

The World Cup has even caught the interest of students who are not soccer fans. Xoren Livingston ’23 said he started watching because of his friends.

“My friends like to watch,” Livingston said, “and I started too, so we could talk about it together.”

Although the U.S. Men’s National Team lost to the Netherlands, student spectators agree that the once-in-four-year event has brought the community together.